Casting apparatus.



No. 697,769. Patented Apr. l5, I902.

A. M. AGKLIN.

CASTING APPARATUS.

(App! 0; nfldJn 29 19011 (No Model.)

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ALFRED M. ACKLIN, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 697,769, dated April15, 1902.

Application filed January 29,1901. Serial No. 45,207. (No model.)

To alt whom it ntrty concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED M. ACKLIN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCasting Apparatus or Plants; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

Myinvention has for its object the provision of a means whereby the flowof liquefied slag, metals, the, issuing from a furnace may be dischargedin a uniform quantity onto a mold-carryingconveyer and dischargedtherefrom.

I accomplish my object by means of the apparatus illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of theapparatus shown in connection with a conveyer. Fig. 2 is a plan View ofthe same.

In said drawings the numeral 1 designates a spout or runner such asextends from a furnace to conduct the molten material therefrom. Areservoir 3, having a spout 4: at its forward end and lugs 5 at itsrear, is mounted upon trunnions 2 at a point a short distance from thespout and directly beneath the said runner. This reservoir is preferablymade of an approximately triangular form, giving greater depth in therear than at the forward end. The rear of the reservoir is attached, bymeans of the lugs 5, to a piston-rod 6 of a hydraulic apparatus -7,which is preferably located immediately above.

A suitable mold-carrying conveyer is employed in connection with thedevice, and in this case I have shown one which is particularly adaptedfor use in thisinstance. Briefly this conveyer consists of a shaft 8,having secured thereon a pair of wheels 9. This shaft is located beneaththe forward end of the reservoir, directly in line with the trunnionsthereof. A similar pair of wheels 10 is mounted. upon a drive-shaft 11.This drive-shaft is placed at an elevation sufficient to permit a car 12to clearly pass beneath for loading. The conveyer-belt is composed of aplurality of parallel bars 13, placed equidistant apart and coupled toone another by links 14. These bars are provided at their outer endswith wheels 15, which are adapted to travel upon the inclined rails 16.The conveyer-links carry a number of molds 17, which are arranged upon alevel and overlapping one another in their rear.

In practice as the material issues from the runner of the furnace itempties into the reservoir and passes therefrom through the spout intothe conveyer-molds, which travel in the direction indicated by the arrowat Fig. 1. The material deposited in the molds becomes solidified intocakes and is readily discharged therefrom into the car or otherreceptacle at the opposite end of the conveyer. Should the flow ofmaterial from the furnacerunner be beyond the capacity of theconveyer-pans, the piston of the hydraulic apparatus is allowed todescend, therebylowering the rear end of the reservoirin order toreceive the surplus material. Should the surplus material at any time besufficient to fill the reservoir, it will assume a position as shown infull lines at Fig. 1. By proper manipulation of the hydraulic apparatuscontrolling the movements of the reservoir a uniform flow of materialfrom said reservoir may be maintained until the entire contents aredischarged.

In order that m y in vention may be fully distinguished from thoseapparatuses for casting metal wherein there is employed a travelingcarrier provided with a series of molds and a pivoted ladle whichreceives the metal flowing from the spout of the furnace and deliversthe same to the molds successively brought into filling position by theoperation of the traveling carrier, I deem it desirable to call especialattention to the fact that in the present invention the forward portionor pouringlip, hereinafter termed the metal receiving and dischargingportion of the trough, discharges continuously into the molds and isarranged approximately beneath the furnacespout, so that it instead ofthe reservoir or deeper portion of the trough first receives the metalfrom the furnace, and a portion of the metal is caused to flow rearwardinto the reservoir, or all of the metal is caused to flow directly fromthe receiving and discharging end of trough and into the molds withoutflowing into said reservoir, as desired, by adj neting the inclinationof said trough. Thus the shallower part of the trough (which isconstructed to form a pou ring-lip and Way thereto or otherwise toprovide a practical discharge end and is located directlyorapproximately beneath the spout ot' the furnace and receives the metalflowing from said spout) is approximately level, as shown in dottedlines in Fig. 1, or is slightly inclined toward the molds, when themetal fiows from the furn ace with what for purpose of illustration maybe termed a normal speedthat is to say, a speed which accords with thespeed of travel and size of the molds-so that there will be no metalflowing from the furnace-spout in excess of that required properly tofill the molds as the latter are successively brought into position tobe filled. When said condition obtains, the trough performs solely thefunction of a stationary guide for conducting the molten metal from thefurnace-spout to the molds, and its forward end constitutes not only themetal-discharging portion thereof, but, if downwardly inclined towardthe molds, it will also constitute the sole metalreceiving portionthereof, and it delivers the metal to said molds as rapidly as itreceives the same from the furnace without detaining or retaining any ofsaid metal as it flows from the furnace. In view of the difficulty ofcontrolling the How of metal from the'furnace so as to accord with thespeed of travel and the size of the molds, which also may vary, theportion of the trough at the rear of said pouring-lip or metal receivingand discharging end is formed to constitute a reservoir, and when theflow of metal to the trough is in excess of that required to fill themolds (termed for illustration a normal speed) said trough may belowered pivotally and a portion of the metal flowing from the furnacethereby diverted from said receiving and discharging end of the troughand caused to flow rearward into and be retained in the rear orreservoir portion of the trough, thus storing the excess in thereservoir and making constant the flow to the molds regardless ofvariations in the speed of flow from the furnace. Moreover, by adjustingthe inclination of said trough the flow of metal from the discharge endthereof may be varied to accord with a variation in the speed of travelof the carrier, which may occur without variation in the flow from thefurnace, and also to accord with a variation in the sizes of the moldson said carrier. The operation of the device in filling the molds isthereby made continuous, there being no interruption either in the flowfrom the furnace-spout to the trough or from the latter to the molds,and the service of an attendant is required only to watch the conditionsobtaining and adjust the trough to accord therewith. When the flow fromthe furnace is insufficient to fill the continuously-traveling molds andthere is an accumulation of excess metal in the reservoir, the troughmay be adjusted to elevate its rear end or reservoir portion, so as tosupply the deficiency.

The use of a trough having its bottom arranged approximately in the sameplane from end to end, as shown in-the accompanying drawings, is veryadvantageous for the purpose of the present invention, as a very slightchange in the degree of inclination thereof causes a change in the speedof flow of metal therefrom whether the reservoir portion thereof befilled or not, and this reduces the extent of adjustment thereof whichwould otherwise be required. The conventional construction of ladlehaving an abrupt wall between its pouring-lip and bottom or having saidlip arranged at a pronounced angle with the main body portion of theladle is not well adapted for the purpose of the present invention. Theconstruction of the carrier and the molds, and the location of saidmolds relatively to each other and to the pouring-lip or discharge endof the trough are also of advantage, in that they contribute to areduction of the time within which a given number of castings may bemade. Each islocated in ahigher plane than the one succeeding it andoverlaps the same, so that an excess supplied to one may freely overflowonto the other, which latter will have assumed a position enabling it toretain an overflow when the one preceding it has reached the place atwhich it is filled, thereby rendering it possible to rotate the carriercontinuously.

As previously stated, it is preferable toconstruct the reservoir of anapproximately triangular form in the direction of its length in order toallow the entire contents to be discharged with the least possibleelevation of the rear end. A further object is to permit the furnacespout or runner to be placed as low as possible without interfering withthe movements of the reservoir.

Although I have shown and described a hydraulic means of raising andlowering the reservoir, it is clear that other means may be employedWithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus shown and described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a traveling carrier, provided with a series ofmolds, and a furnace, of a means for conducting molten metal from thefurnace to said molds, continuously and at constant or regulated speed,comprising a trough interposed between said carrier and furnace andnormally so related thereto as to constitute a stationary guide forconducting metal from the furnace to the molds approximately withoutintermission in the flow thereof, said trough having its forward end incommunication with the furnacespout so as to receive metal therefrom andconstructed and arranged to discharge continuously into said molds, and,being constructed, rearward of its said metal receiving and dischargingend, to form a reservoir for the accumulation therein of excess metalunder abnormal conditions, and means for adjusting said trough so as tocause the metal to be conducted to the molds as rapidly as it flows fromthe furnace, or cause a regulated portion of the metal to be divertedfrom the discharge end of the trough and be detained in said reservoir,or to cause metal in the reservoir to flow into said discharge end.

2. The combination with a traveling carrier, provided with a series ofmolds, and a furnace, of a means for conducting molten metal from thefurnace and discharging the same continuously and at constant orregulated speed into the molds, comprising a trough pivoted near itsfront end and interposed between said furnace and molds, said troughhaving an approximately plane bottom and approximately triangular sides,and having its forward end arranged in communication with thefurnace-spout so as to receive the metal therefrom and arranged todischarge into the molds continuously, said forward end terminating in acontracted pouring-lip, the rear portion of said trough constituting areservoir which is normally arranged to detain none of the metal flowingfrom the furnace, and means connected with the rear end of the troughfor adjusting the inclination of the latter so as to cause a regulatedquantity of the metal'to be diverted from the metal-receiving endthereof into said reservoir, or to cause metal in the reservoir to flowtherefrom into said receiving end, substantially as described and forthe purposes set forth.

3. The combination with a continuously-rotated carrier, provided with aseries of molds, and a furnace having continuously-open communicationwith its spout, of a means for conducting molten metal from the furnaceand discharging the same continuously and at constant or regulated speedinto the molds, comprising a pivoted trough interposed between saidfurnace and carrier, having its forward end in communication with thefurnace-spout so as continuously to receive molten metal therefrom andarranged to discharge metal continuously into the molds, said troughbeing constructed rearward of its said metal receiving and dischargingend, to form a reservoir which is normally arranged to detain none ofthe metal flowing from said furnace, and means for adjusting said troughso as to cause a regulated portion of the metal to be diverted from saidforward end thereof into said reservoir, or to cause metal from saidreservoir to flow into said forward end, substantially as described andfor the purposes set forth. I

at. The combination with a pivoted device designed to receive moltenmetal from a furnace and having a pouring-lip at one end, and an endlesscarrier projecting to beneath said lip at one end, of a series of flatmolds arranged in a step-by-step relation upon said carrier and eachhaving an end overhanging that of the one next adjacent, said parts being so related that when a mold has reached a position where it directlyreceives the flow from said lip the one approaching said position willhave assumed a horizontal plane to retain an overflow, substantially asdescribed.

5. The combination with a pivoted device designed to receive moltenmetal from a furmace and having a pouring-lip at one end and disposedconstantly to discharge the metal and, when the speed is normal,discharging said metal approximately as fast as the metal is deliveredto it, and having a reservoir portion, and means for adjustingtheinclination of said device when the speed is abnormal and to accordtherewith, and an endless carrier projecting to beneath said lip at oneend, of a series of flat molds arranged in a stepby-step relation onsaid carrier and each having an end overlapping that of the onesucceeding it, said parts being so related that when a mold has reacheda position where itdirectly receives the flow from said lip the oneapproaching said position will have assumed a horizontal plane to retainan overflow, all

substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED M. ACKLIN.

Witnesses:

.Ms J .MOAFEE, J. E. KREPPS.

